Nigerian star who made goal-saving block and scored twice in five minutes wins Baller of the Week

Chibuike Nwaiwu had never scored twice in a professional match before Friday night. He chose the perfect occasion to make history.

The 22-year-old Nigerian centre-back delivered a stunning second-half brace as Trabzonspor defeated Fatih Karagumruk 3-1, winning the man of the match award unanimously in a performance that announced him to Nigerian football in the loudest possible way.

Trabzonspor went into the break level at 1-1, with Paul Onuachu's opener, his 17th league goal of the season, cancelled out by the visitors. 

What followed in the opening five minutes of the second half was something nobody in the Papara Park crowd of 22,000 anticipated.

Two minutes after the restart, Ozan Tufan flicked on a corner at the near post and Nwaiwu arrived at the far post with a composed diving header to make it 2-1. 

Three minutes later, Tufan delivered again, this time Onuachu flicked it on and Nwaiwu was there again. Same position, same composure, and same certainty. Brace complete.

The performance was about far more than two goals. Before scoring, Nwaiwu had already produced a goal-saving block that kept Trabzonspor level. 

He completed 95% of his passes, won his defensive duels, made nine recoveries, and commanded his area throughout; a complete display from a player still only two months into his Turkish adventure.

The Nigerian, who came through Heartland FC and Enyimba before moving to Europe with Wolfsberger AC, has now started all nine of Trabzonspor's matches since his January arrival, winning seven of them.

For Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle, who is finalising his squad for next month's Four-Nation Tournament in Jordan, Thursday's performance was impossible to ignore.

Nwaiwu has never been capped. After this, that needs to change.